What happened at Uravan?

Many old-time Colorado miners suffer from lung disease, and one former mill community, Uravan, was deemed so radioactive that everything in town—houses, streets, even the trees—had to be shredded and buried.

Where is the largest uranium mine in the US?

The Central Florida (Bone Valley) phosphorite deposits are considered to contain the largest known uranium resource (one million metric tons of uranium oxide) in North America (but note that resources are not the same as ore reserves).

Where is yellow cake uranium mined?

The uranium mining town Uravan, Colorado, is now an abandoned ghost town and Superfund site. During the Cold War era Uravan had a population of 800; the town had a school, medical facilities, recreational centers and stores.

What happened to the bulk of the town of Uravan?

The entire mining community of Uravan was razed, beginning in 1986, and buried beneath gravel on a hill near the town’s former site. Superfund cleanups are a priority for Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Where is uranium found in Colorado?

Although uranium occurs in several areas of the state, much of the historic uranium and vanadium production is from numerous and relatively small mines in the Uravan mineral belt located in Mesa, Montrose, and San Miguel Counties. This area accounted for about 77% of the total uranium production in Colorado.

How many uranium mines are in Wyoming?

Wyoming Uranium Mines There are currently four active mining operations in Wyoming (three in the Powder River Basin and one in the Great Divide Basin) and several other projects in various stages of regulatory review.

How much uranium does Wyoming have?

Uranium is one of the most common elements on earth. In ancient times it was used in pigments and glazes, but since 1950 the primary use for this mineral is as fuel for nuclear power plants. Wyoming’s known reserves are estimated at about 106 million pounds at $30 per pound and 350 million pounds at $50 per pound.

What US state has the most uranium?

URANIUM IN NEW MEXICO New Mexico’s Grants Uranium Region has been the most prolific producer of uranium in the United States. With production as early as 1948, over 347 million lbs. U3O8 has been produced from the region, mainly during the years 1953 through 1990.

How much does yellow cake uranium cost?

According to a press-release, Yellow Cake will purchase approximately 1 million lb of U3O8 from Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, at a price of US$47.58/lb.

Why is it called yellowcake?

Yellowcake is what remains after drying and filtering. The yellowcake produced by most modern mills is actually brown or black, not yellow; the name comes from the color and texture of the concentrates produced by early mining operations.

What happened to Uravan uranium mine?

However, the U.S. domestic uranium mining industry collapsed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, due to lack of new nuclear power plants, and to low-price uranium imported from Canada. The town had been in decline for several years; the decision was made to close Uravan in 1985 and then commence a large-scale clean-up of the entire site.

What happened to the uranium industry in Wyoming?

The Wyoming uranium mining industry was hard-hit in the 1980s by the drop in the price of uranium. When the uranium price dropped, the uranium-mining boom town of Jeffrey City lost 95% of its population in three years. Gas Hills.

What is the history of uranium mining in Utah?

Map of the Shirley Basin Uranium Area. Uranium was discovered in the Shirley Basin, Carbon County, in 1955. Production began in 1960 from underground and open-pit mines. Mining by in-situ leaching began in 1961, the first in-situ leach mining of uranium in the United States.

What is the Uravan Superfund site?

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Uravan (a contraction of Uranium vanadium) is an abandoned uranium mining town in western Montrose County, Colorado, United States, that is now a Superfund site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5cluMtKie8